Let agriculture drive Ghana’s transformation
Ghana has talked about transforming agriculture for decades. We have launched programmes, distributed inputs, promoted mechanisation and repeatedly described agriculture as the backbone of the economy.
Yet, for all the talk, the sector continues to struggle with low productivity, limited processing, inadequate technology and a shortage of young people willing to see farming as a serious business.
It is against this background that the message from the Vice Chancellor of the University of Engineering and Agricultural Sciences (UEAS), Prof. Mark Adom-Asamoah, deserves serious attention.
His argument is straightforward: if Ghana is to transform its economy, it cannot afford to treat agriculture and technology as separate concerns. The two must work together.
There is nothing radical about this proposition. The countries that have successfully transformed their economies did not abandon agriculture.
They modernised it. They invested in research, technology, processing, skills and infrastructure, while building industries around agricultural production.
Ghana must do the same. One particularly important aspect of the UEAS approach is its emphasis on specialised and practical training.
For too long, our education system has sometimes produced graduates with broad knowledge but limited practical skills for solving real-world problems.
The university’s decision to focus students more deeply on specific disciplines is therefore worth watching.
A graduate who spends meaningful time mastering a particular area of agricultural production or engineering should be better positioned to innovate, create employment and contribute to industry.
But universities cannot transform agriculture on their own.
The call by Prof. Adom-Asamoah for government, financial institutions and the private sector to provide financing, land and an enabling business environment must be taken seriously.
A well-trained graduate cannot become a successful agricultural entrepreneur if access to credit remains difficult, land is insecure and markets are uncertain.
The banks, too, have a role. Agriculture should not be treated merely as a high-risk sector to be avoided.
With proper assessment, insurance, value-chain financing and appropriate technology, agricultural lending can become a viable commercial opportunity.
Perhaps even more important is the need to change the perception of agriculture among the youth.
As the Managing Director of New Times Corporation, Dr Isaac Okpoti Nai, rightly observed, young people shy away from agriculture partly because the sector has not been properly marketed to them. That narrative must change.
Agriculture today is not simply about hoes, cutlasses and subsistence farming.
It encompasses precision farming, irrigation, agricultural engineering, biotechnology, food processing, logistics, agribusiness, data and digital technologies.
If Ghana is serious about reducing its dependence on imported food, creating jobs and strengthening its industrial base, these opportunities must be deliberately developed.
The inauguration of UEAS, therefore, should not be viewed merely as another institutional event.
It should become part of a much bigger national conversation about what kind of skills Ghana needs and how those skills can be connected to economic production.
Government must provide the policy direction. Universities must produce relevant skills and research.
Banks must make capital available. Industry must create markets and opportunities.
And young people must be encouraged to see agriculture not as a fallback option, but as a modern and potentially profitable profession.
Ghana has the land, the people and the knowledge. What has often been missing is the sustained coordination, investment and determination to turn these advantages into economic value.
The opportunity before us is too important to waste. It is time to move agriculture from political speeches to productive enterprise.
You can now read the *Ghanaian Times* and *The Spectator* newspapers digitally on [TimesNewsPlus](https://timesnewsplus.com/newspapers).
Follow our WhatsApp Channel now! https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbAjG7g3gvWajUAEX12Q
